No Time to Waste
by australia831
Summary: This is a continuation of my other story, The Timeturner and The TARDIS, which I wrote about 2 years ago. The Doctor returns to Hogwarts with a completely different face, a damaged TARDIS, and a mission to come back for little Amelia Pond. But there's an inevitable price that can't be rewritten, fixed in time. Can Hermione and the Doctor figure it out before it's too late?
1. Prologue

Falling. That's all the Doctor knew. Everything was plummeting, crashing around in the TARDIS, a racket in his ears. He stumbled and fell back, hitting the railing with a thud. Yet another wave of pain crashed over him, nearly sending him to his knees. After many regenerations, one would think the agony wouldn't be so...well...so much agony.

But it was.

New face, new skin, new fingers, legs. Still got legs. The Doctor shakily pulled a tuft of hair in front of his face. Not ginger yet, though.

As cords fizzed and the control panel sent sparks flying across the room, the Doctor grabbed at levers, pulling handles and turning knobs. Whoever he was, he was a horrible pilot.

Throughout his dizzy, rearranged mind, he could remember one thing, and grasped it like a lifeline. He would follow this memory, and he would figure out how to fly this infernal machine, and he would somehow–somehow–understand the years of strange events spinning across his thoughts, all the glimpses of places and times and people, enemies and friends, though he didn't know which was which.

Except one.

And he followed it. And he drove the TARDIS toward Earth.

* * *

Two years later, near Hagrid's hut, Hermione was reading from her pamphlet on the Secrets of Divination, scribbling down notes on a separate piece of parchment, when she heard a sound. A vaguely familiar whirring, something from the back of her mind. But it filled her with hope, this sound. And before she knew it, she was on her feet.

Across the lawn, she could just barely make out a shape. It blinked into existence, faded away, then reformed, shockingly blue against the light colors of spring. A light atop the box shone like a star, then became dull. The whirring stopped.

And she ran. Her memory was coming back to her now, flooding back and filling her senses with happiness, nostalgia, adventure, and excitement, all in one repeating, retrieved thought.

_Doctor._

**_GUYS. I'm BACK. AFTER, LIKE, A BAJILLION YEARS._ **

**Ok, I've been **

**1) really busy with writing my own stuff**

**2) busy with more stuff like homework**

**3) procrastinating**

**4) trying to think of how the heck I'm gonna continue this gosh darn thing (and my other Hetalia story which deserves a sequel)**

**I'm a much better writer now, so YAY. But I don't know how often I'll be able to post. Hopefully often. Thank you guys for reading, and I can't apologize enough for disappearing off the map for a while, but I'm back, and better than ever, baby!**

**Feel free to leave any questions or ideas for how the story should go in the comments, and thanks again! Here we goooooo! **


	2. Apples are Rubbish

Hermione slowed as she neared the TARDIS, coming to a stop just as the door swung inward. Out stepped a man. A different man. Not the Doctor. Hermione's grin dropped and her eyes widened. She crossed her arms. "Who are you?"

The man swung around, first his head to take a glance at her, then the rest of him, as if it was too difficult to move every joint at once. He squinted at her, hands on his knees, wobbling back and forth. Then he stood back up so quickly that he placed a hand on the TARDIS's wooden wall to keep from pitching over. "I think...I think I'm the Doctor." He stared at the Forbidden Forest. Then he looked back at Hermione, the same strange expression on his face as if he were looking to her for confirmation.

"No you're not. The Doctor looks different. He has darker hair and an older face and…" Hermione trailed off, looking the man up and down. He was tall, lean, and young, and a complete stranger. And yet, something about him _was _familiar. Was it the peculiar way he held himself, like he was always examining something, curious? Was it how he looked so young but his eyes were so old and wise? And still, how could he be the Doctor? There was no doubt that he was a different person.

The man shoved his hands deep in his pockets–another familiar quirk–and shrugged. "But I am." He suddenly looked sad. "I know now. I am." He let out a breath through his nose. "Do you remember when I told you I could regenerate, Hermione?"

Hermione subconsciously took a step back when the man said her name. But she considered what he said, being practical. Something about regenerations did seem vaguely familiar. "Of course I remember. But why do you look so different, then? Unless you were hurt that badly."

The man was nodding. "Yes, I was hurt. And if I didn't change my entire body, well," he threw out his arms in a huge shrug, "that wouldn't have been good. Do you still have your timeturner?"

Before she knew it, Hermione had slung her arms around the man–no, the _Doctor_. Her Doctor. His arms wrapped around her only a second later, his hesitation due to surprise. The Doctor's new coat was a rough, sturdy jacket, and one that absorbed tears surprisingly well. Not that Hermione cried. A bit of water simply slipped out. That was all. After two years, that was all.

The Doctor gave her a pat on the back before releasing and saying, "So. What's gone on in these past...days? Months?"

"Years, actually. Two of them."

"Two years! Sorry about that." He ruffed up the back of his new head of hair with a quick scratch. "I was pretty busy."

"I'm not surprised. Here, come inside." Hermione nodded to Hogwarts. "We can talk there."

"I dunno if that's such a great idea."

"Why?"

"First of all, I'm not a wizard. I'm also a stranger. I could be anyone."

"Hagrid's hut then?" At the Doctor's confused look, Hermione pointed to the little hut, smoke puffing steadily from the chimney of the cozy, curved roof.

"Sure. I'll be there in a moment."

"Right. I'll tell Hagrid you're coming." Hermione turned and jogged away, towards the hut.

The Doctor watched her for a moment, then a childlike grin popped onto his lips and he slid back into the TARDIS to make sure nothing would explode again. After his crash land at that strange girl's house, he wasn't sure how his TARDIS would recover. Or how his taste buds would recover from that apple. Rubbish, apples are.

As soon as he fixed everything, he would return to Amelia Pond and show her the stars. He wouldn't leave her all alone. He couldn't.

**Warning: these chapters are going to be short. They just are. I can't update regularly as it is, so to leave you guys hanging for weeks at a time just to finish longer chapters doesn't seem fair. So they'll be about this size unless there's a weird one. **

**ALSO: guys, this story is for you. If you have any suggestions on how you want it to go, PLEASE leave a comment. I will consider every single suggestion. If I use something from one of you, I'll mention you.**

**Thanks and see ya later!**


	3. Draco's Father Will Hear About This

The Doctor knocked on the rough wooden door of Hagrid's hut. Hermione opened it right away and pulled the Doctor inside, shutting the door behind him.

"Doctor, I'd like for you to meet Hagrid," Hermione said, gesturing. "Hagrid, this is the Doctor."

Hagrid extended a bulky hand. "Nice to meet ya, sir."

The Doctor took it and shook it. "You too. Lovely home, by the way, absolutely lovely."

"Oh, why, thank ya." Hagrid smiled wide. "Make yerself comfortable, then."

Hermione and the Doctor sat at Hagrid's extra-large table while Hagrid went into the other room to see if he had any biscuits or homemade snacks.

Although Hermione couldn't have been happier to see her old friend, she needed to ask the one thing on her mind. "Doctor, why did you have to regenerate?"

The Doctor's smile faltered. "Oh, that's nothing we should talk about. We should be catching up on other things like, what, personal victories and the weather."

Hermione pressed her lips together, silent, searching the Doctor's eyes for a clue. But they were so deep, so full of secrets. She couldn't find anything salvageable there.

"Anyway," the Doctor continued, "before I came here, I crash-landed at a young girl's house. And it just so happens that the TARDIS isn't functioning properly, so I need your help to get back to her."

"To get back to her? Who is she?"

"Well, her name is Amelia Pond, and she's all alone, just a child…"

"Wait." Pond. That name was so very familiar. _Pond. _When did she know someone of that name? It wasn't the name of a friend, nor an enemy. Then who was it from?

From the past. Amelia Pond was the woman from the past.

Apparently, the Doctor crash-landed in the early 1900s. That was the only explanation for why the woman would have been a child.

"Wait, what, what is it?" asked the Doctor.

Hermione shook her head. "Nevermind. And of course I'll help. What did you have in mind?"

"Well I need something to kickstart the TARDIS, similar to an energy boost. If we can use the timeturner on the TARDIS, then it might re-calibrate and fix itself."

"Use the timeturner on the entire TARDIS? I'm not sure that'll work. But maybe Dumbledore can help."

"Dumbledore? Who's that?"

"He's the headmaster of the school," said Hermione. "We can find him in his office."

"Perfect! Let's go then." The Doctor stood and charged out the door, just as Hagrid came back with a tray of snacks.

Hermione shot him an apologetic glance as she walked after the Doctor. "Sorry, thanks Hagrid." She jogged after the Doctor, who was almost halfway to the castle. When she reached him, she said, "Follow me as quickly as you can. I don't think anyone would take kindly to a strange man in Hogwarts, especially nowadays."

"What's nowadays?"

"Everyone's terrified of another attack from Voldemort, the community is becoming darker and corrupted, and there is always more to fear."

"Ah."

Hermione slipped through the doors on the side of the castle and into the main halls. "Try not to look suspicious," she whispered, peering around the corner. Once a group of chatty students had passed, Hermione and the Doctor strode down the halls, only getting a few curious looks from kids lounging nearby.

They had nearly reach the hall that led to Dumbledore's office when Hermione saw the worst group of students they could have possibly run into flouncing toward them. As they got closer, they peeled their attentions off of themselves and directed their stares to Hermione and the Doctor.

"Who's this, Granger?" Draco asked, the sides of his mouth curling up into a sneer. "Is this your new boyfriend? He's a little old for you, but not as old as your other crush, Lockhart."

His followers oohed and covered their grins with their palms, elbowing one another.

"He's none of your business, Malfoy," Hermione said, her face turning bright red.

Draco turned to the Doctor. "What's your name?"

"John Smith. I have some business with your headmaster, so if you'd step aside, please."

Draco didn't move. "What business? Are you from the Ministry?"

"Sure."

"What Department?"

"A really, really specific one that you probably haven't heard of, so," he clasped his hands together, "nice to meet you." He tugged Hermione past them and walked quickly to the end of the hall.

"I hope for your sake you're telling the truth, Smith," Draco called. "My father will hear about this."

"I'd hoped we wouldn't run into that group," said Hermione as she turned the last corner.

"They don't seem very friendly," said the Doctor. "Who's his father?"

"No one you'd want to meet."

They took the hidden moving staircase up to Dumbledore's office, at which the Doctor marveled, pointing and scanning it with his screwdriver once they'd reached the top. Hermione elbowed him as Dumbledore came over to meet them.

Dumbledore nodded. "Miss Granger, what may I help you with? And, who is this, if I may ask?"

"This is John Smith, professor. Or, rather, the Doctor. He's the one that helped me with Randolph Skern two years ago."

"Oh, yes, I recall you telling me about him," said Dumbledore. "Not of this world, if I remember correctly." He met the Doctor's eyes. "You certainly look human enough. But as we all know, looks can be deceiving."

A dark-colored cat appeared near Dumbledore's feet and sat down, eyeing the visitor.

"It's alright, Minerva," Dumbledore told the cat. "He helped Miss Granger a while back."

The cat wasn't deterred.

"Professor," Hermione said, "the Doctor needs help with his...ship. Is there any way that a timeturner could be used on such a thing?"

"Not that I could think of. But," he rose a finger, "there is something. It's called a timescratcher. It is much more powerful than a timeturner. But be warned, Hermione, Doctor, it can be damaging."

"Damaging how?" asked the Doctor.

"I've never used one, so I can't tell you with utmost certainty."

"Where can we find it?" Hermione asked.

"The only one I know of is being held by the Ministry of Magic. So, please, be careful. For everyone's sake."

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything except Randolph Skern and the timescratcher (at least so far).**

**I hope you guys are enjoying! P.S. I love reviews, even if they're saying I could change something to make the story even better, because I want to make it the best I can for you guys. **

**Happyalmost2015.**


	4. It's a Small Ministry After All

The Doctor had never apparated before. When Hermione took his arm, he didn't know what to expect. All he knew was that it was a sort of displacement, like teleportation. And before they vanished from Hogwarts, he was actually excited.

That excitement disappeared with them.

They jolted, feeling as if they were being turned inside out, and that their bones were twisting. They were stretched in every direction all at once, churning and hurtling through space. And then they stopped.

Hermione snatched the Doctor's arm before he could pitch over onto the sidewalk. The Doctor felt as if he had just undergone a slightly less painful regeneration, and he was once again someone knew. He caught his breath, looked around, and, upon seeing where he was, smiled.

"That was incredible," he breathed, turning to look at the busy city streets and sidewalks, cars rattling past without a care. He ran a hand through his hair, making it stick up like the quills on a porcupine. "Ha! Amazing!"

"Doctor, careful not to attract attention," urged Hermione.

"Oh, right, sorry." The Doctor stopped spinning. "Where do we go from here?"

Hermione nodded to a red phone box set up against a crumbling brick building. "There."

"Is is bigger on the inside?" The Doctor asked.

Hermione smiled. "I bet you wish it was."

They crammed themselves into the phone box, which was, if anything, smaller on the inside than it had appeared. Hermione put a few coins in and punched in the entry code. After a few seconds, the box jolted, and began descending. The light of the day disappeared, replaced with black, thick concrete walls on either side, as if they were going down into a mine shaft. Seconds later, the box emerged into a cavernous place filled with bustling witches and wizards, all dressed in colorful robes, carrying boxes, papers, cages, briefcases, or newspapers, The walls and floor were polished and shone underneath the boot-clad feet of the workers. The walls irregularly jutted out, forming fireplaces in which, in puffs of green flame, more workers appeared and joined the uneven flow of the Ministry.

As Hermione and the Doctor landed, the doors of the phone box swung open and they tumbled out. Hermione fit in, wearing her school robes, but the Doctor, no longer having a trench coat, sported a simple jacket and bowtie, which separated him from the crowd of flowing garb.

Hermione dragged the awed timelord to the nearest elevator where they stood next to several other wizards. Paper planes flew in, just as the doors closed, and circled the ceiling. The Doctor, who hadn't expected the elevator to move backward, tripped forward at the first jolt, and would have fell had he not been holding the ring hanging from the ceiling. After he steadied himself, he sent a charming smile at the other wizards, who looked at him with suspicion.

At the correct Department, Hermione dragged the Doctor out and they began to walk down the long, straight corridor.

"Sorry," said Hermione. "I forgot to warn you about the elevator."

"That's alright," the Doctor replied. "You can't possibly remember to warn me of everything before it happens."

They continued down the hall until they found a door plaque which read 'Advisor of Magical Objects of Time'. Hermione knocked on the door. The door swung open, revealing a round woman with polkadotted fingernails and a beehive hairdo. The small, rectangular name plate on her desk revealed that she was called Miss Hundsbee. Miss Hundsbee had hardly glanced up from her papers when she beckoned for them to come in.

Hermione shut the door behind her. "Excuse me, ma'am, but I am taking...History of Magical Objects and my project calls for me to examine a timescratcher. May I see one, please?"

Miss Hundsbee looked up at 'timescratcher'. "Oh, dear, timescratchers are very dangerous."

"But I have my professor here." Hermione glanced at the Doctor. "His name is Mr. Smith. He is a frequent handler of dangerous magical objects such as timescratchers."

Miss Hundsbee raised a drawn-on eyebrow. "Is this true?"

The Doctor nodded. "It is."

"I'll need to see proof of that, Mr. Smith."

Hermione's mouth was as dry as sandpaper. She didn't know a spell that could do such a thing. But much to her surprise, the Doctor pulled out a black-lined blank piece of paper about the size of a license. He showed it to her. Hermione's jaw nearly dropped when the woman nodded.

"I'll be right back," said Miss Hundsbee. She waddled out the doorway.

Hermione faced the Doctor. "What was that!"

"Oh, just something that shows people what I want them to see."

"She saw that you were a registered handler of magical objects?"

"Yup."

"Brilliant," she said. "Once we get the timescratcher, let's get out of here as quickly as possible."

The Doctor nodded.

A few minutes later, Miss Hundsbee returned with a blanketed box. She shut the door, then placed the box on her desk. She removed the blanket, revealing an intricately carved box, emerald with accents of gold. "The timescratcher is inside the box." She recovered it with the blanket, then handed the Doctor a green key that looked as if it was made of marble. "Return it within three days."

"Thank you very much," said Hermione.

"Yes, thanks," said the Doctor.

Miss Hundsbee nodded and ushered them out before returning her gaze to her paperwork.

Once they'd closed the door to the office, the Doctor, who was carrying the box, said, "Let's go. I don't want her changing her mind."

They headed back down the hall and called for the elevator.

"So, I have been wondering," said the Doctor, "who is that boy's father?"

"He actually works here," said Hermione. "But we mustn't run into him, or it'd be trouble for us."

"Why?"

Hermione lowered her voice and looked around, "He isn't good news. We think he might be on the side of Voldemort. Besides, he will always go out of the way to make sure that the allies of Dumbledore don't get their way."

"What's his name?"

The elevator doors opened, and they stepped in.

Hermione said, "His name is-."

"Well, hello Miss Granger," came a raspy voice, cold with terrible familiarity.

Hermione froze. Standing next to her, the only other person in the elevator other than the Doctor, was the very person she's hoped to avoid.

Lucius Malfoy.

**A/N: I'm finally back with the next chapter! Sorry about the delay, I had lots of Finals to do and study for, but I finally finished them a few days ago. Thanks to all who are reading this story, I appreciate you giving your time to find out what happens. I make this story for you guys.**

**If you want to know when I upload each chapter, you can follow the story. You can also leave a Favorite if you want to make my day! :) Comments are always awesome. Please feel free to give me suggestions on the story, or any other constructive criticism is welcome (as long as it truly is constructive). **

**See you guys in the next chapter!**


	5. And Off Again

"What's the matter, Miss Granger?" Lucius said, his cruel mouth twitching into a sneer.

"Nothing, sir," Hermione replied. Her heart was pounding, but she tried her best to conceal it.

"So why is it that you are here, at the Ministry, hm?" he asked.

"E-extra credit," she said. "Mr. Smith," she nodded to the Doctor, "is a substitute teacher at Hogwarts. He accompanied me here with Professor Dumbledore's permission.

Lucius rose an eyebrow, giving the Doctor a once-over. "Is this true, Mr. . . .Smith?"

The Doctor nodded, cleared his throat, and said, "It is. I am most definitely a wizard teacher."

Lucius looked like he was watching something unpleasant. "What is under that blanket, then?"

"My project," said Hermione.

The elevator doors opened to the main floor, and the Doctor and Hermione backed out quickly into the crowd. They shuffled away, the Doctor cradling the timescratcher. "Who was that?"

"Lucius Malfoy. The one I was telling you about," said Hermione. She guided him toward a fireplace.

"Huh. Not surprised," said the Doctor.

They were close to a fireplace when enormous tapestries on either side of the Ministry scrolled down and alarms sounded, blaring and echoing throughout the hall. The tapestries had the image of the Doctor with the words "Intruder Alert, Internal Lockdown Imminent".

A steady moan of panic rose from the witches and wizards in the long hallway, and they moved quicker, bumping into Hermione and the Doctor. Hermione grabbed the Doctor's wrist and tugged him against the surging crowd.

"There!" a voice cried. "They're over there, don't let them get past."

They nearly tumbled into the fireplace, just as the magical barrier was beginning to form. The bone-stretching, skin-warping was back, and the Doctor and Hermione spun for long hours that were only seconds. And they fell into the black, the gray, then the light as they rolled onto something hard. Coughing, they felt the rough ground with their palms and helped each other up. They had wound up in Hagrid's hut, in the giant sized-or rather, half-giant sized-fireplace. The timescratcher was on the floor in front of them.

"We did it," said Hermione. Her hair was frizzing up again and her clothes were full of fireplace ashes and floo powder, but she was safe. They were safe.

The Doctor slowly broke out into a smile. "We did it. We did it!" They started laughing and threw their arms around each other in relief.

Hagrid, who was standing in the doorway, coughed into a fist. Hermione broke away from the Doctor and said, "Hagrid, we did it, we made it back."

"Did what, what did ya do?"

"Oh, that's right." Hermione had completely forgotten that Hagrid didn't know what they had been up to. Nor had Ron or Harry. That was a change. "I promise to tell you everything later."

"Let's go fix my ship, then," said the Doctor. They went back to the TARDIS, which was still in the same place on the lawn. They stopped a few feet from it. The Doctor smoothed off the top of the marble box and squinted at the keyhole. And he took a sobering breath. "So. I think I do this inside the ship."

Hermione nodded. She paused. "You'll be off, then."

The Doctor nodded. "I will. If it works."

Hermione's heart was heavy. How was it that her old friend had only come to stay for a few hours? But she knew. She knew why he had to go. And she knew she had to let him. "Come back soon."

The Doctor stepped inside the TARDIS and turned. "Thank you, Hermione. I hope…" He looked down, bit his lip, then looked back up. "I won't forget about you." He closed the door.

"Doctor?" Hermione's heart thumped, and she could tell something was wrong. 'I hope...' what? I hope, I hope. I hope you live a good life. I hope you learn well. I hope you have adventures, because I won't forget about you.

I hope you won't forget about me.

"No…." He was going this time, and maybe not coming back. He was leaving. "Doctor!" She called his name over and over. The TARDIS was fading. "Doctor, Doctor, stop, please…." Her voice was getting hoarse, and she was betrayed. She was cold inside, and she couldn't do a thing. She could do nothing. The TARDIS made a last whirr that faded with the wind, and the blue box was gone from Hogwarts, and from the lawn, and from Hermione.

Hermione sat down in the grass. She stared at the place where her friend used to be, but now was not. And running through her head over and over was 'He's gone this time. Gone'.

The Doctor closed the door to the TARDIS. He had just said goodbye to one of his only friends in the world, maybe even the universe. He opened the marble box and the orb inside crackled with energy. It immediately powered up the TARDIS and the lights flickered, and the control panel purred. The ship was leaving.

He pulled the tiny monitor from the control panel. On the screen, Hermione was shouting his name. The Doctor closed his eyes and put the screen back. The TARDIS rocked and tipped as it hurtled back to Amelia Pond's house, back to her timeline.

The Doctor didn't know when he would be able to see Hermione again. It seemed his life was changing. He was getting old, yes, but more importantly, he was more easily recognized, which meant people would call for him more, and he would be more involved in matters than he was in his seventh or eighth regeneration. And he would be in more danger, which never truly bothered him until now, and he wondered what he could have possibly gotten himself into that was so all-encompassing that it meant losing Hermione.

When the rocking stopped, the Doctor stood with the help of the railing, brushed himself off, and opened the door. A small bed with a quilted cover was the first thing he saw. A toy bunny hung from the bed rails. He was in Amelia's bedroom. The sun peered through the window, lighting the blue walls. Was it the day before he'd met her or the day after?

He stepped onto the carpet and paced the empty room, unsure. He couldn't very well likely go up to her in her own house and introduce himself, hoping she'd know who he was.

But then he stopped. Something was different. Something was wrong. His eyes moved to the wall. It was bright blue and barren. It was empty.

The crack was gone.

**Only a few more chapters to go. I hope you're enjoying! Leave a favorite, follow or review, please. :) Thanks for reading.**


	6. Timescratcher

The Doctor stared at the empty wall for a good thirty seconds. He snapped out of his daze at the sound of a voice. Eyes widening, he hurried to the window. Little Amelia Pond was walking to the house, humming. She'd be up the stairs within a minute.

He had two options. No, four–er, three. He could wait for her to come and hope for the best. He could take off in his TARDIS again and risk not being able to make his way back. He could also wait in the TARDIS until Amelia came up to her room. If she didn't recognize him, he would just leave again. Wait, no, that might screw up time. But if it was afterward, it would be fine. Oh, but he couldn't just take that bet, could he? Not with the 50-50 chance and the missing crack and the risk. And chance and risk were not the same thing.

He quickly paced back and forth, each direction lasting three-or-so steps in the child-sized bedroom. The Doctor snapped his finger and tapped his head, racking his mind for a solution, for the right choice and the right chance. Risk and chance. Balanced or swaying to either extreme–were they the same? No. Yes. The same; balanced.

The front door opened and so disappeared choice number two. The Doctor would just have to hope that Amelia didn't come into her room while he sorted things out. His gaze shifted to the wall. Oh, that was right, the _wall_. The wall without a crack.

And suddenly, he thought that his problem would be the answer. He flipped his screwdriver out of his pocket and scanned the wall, tracing the tip along the place where the crack had been. There was no trace of anything. But there was something, though not from the wall. The light on his screwdriver pulsed as he drew it away from the wall. The slurping, whirring sound got louder and higher pitched. A turn toward the window and it got lower. But as he pivoted the other way, it seemed to scream. And he extended his arm to his beloved TARDIS.

Eyebrows furrowed, he ran a hand along the side of his ship. "What's the matter with you?" He didn't know if he was asking the TARDIS, his screwdriver, or himself. He didn't have an answer for whatever the question was aimed at. He held his screwdriver higher. It screeched like a dog whistle against the handle. The Doctor shut it off. Whatever was causing the disturbance was inside his ship.

The Doctor grabbed the handle and pulled.

The door opened fully, and inside was a storm of wind and electricity picking up debris and tossing it against the walls and control panel. Sitting in the middle of the vortex was the timescratcher, its box open and coursing with static and magic. Clouds of what the Doctor could only describe as flitting, golden flies puffed from it like smoke from a chimney. From there, they were taken up by the wind and flung into the current. The storm was a brilliant, gilded hurricane.

The Doctor took a step into the TARDIS. The wind pushed back on him like its sole goal was to keep him from the box. The golden flies whizzed by his ears and stung him with quick jabs of static. The roar in his ears increased with each step, as did the length of time between each advance. The flies crowded around his head, nearly choking him. They tangled themselves in his hair and pushed his shoulders, stabbing his skin with bright, coursing electric zaps.

Heaving his leg forward, he reached the box. He bent down to close it and had just barely gotten his fingers around the lid when a gust of wind even stronger than the previous current knocked him off his feet. He was holding on with his fingernails now, grasping the box that was spewing more and more flies. He thought of Amelia. He thought of Hermione. He thought of Rose and Donna and the John Smith that was him and that wasn't.

From these people he found the strength. The Doctor cried out and looped his arm around the box, slamming down on the lid. The wind vanished, and his body relaxed, no longer having to strain with every movement. The flies around his head flew up and joined an enormous swarm that circled around the ceiling of the TARDIS.

And then the Doctor looked at the timescratcher. He looked back at the ceiling. _Timescratcher. Time-scratcher. Scratch in time. _

The Doctor barely had time to roll out of the way when the swarm pelted down around the control panel and the timescratcher, making the knobs move and the lights flash. When the lights of the ship flickered and the console shifted gear for takeoff and the TARDIS began to whirr, the swarm, almost as a single entity, torpedoed out the doorway and onto the blue wall, where they flew and crashed into the plaster.

Just before the door slammed shut, the Doctor understood. And the golden flies started to form what looked almost exactly like a crack in the wall. Only, the Doctor knew better; the wall was in the crack.

The TARDIS rumbled and pitched about, throwing the Doctor around the ground, still clutching the timescratcher to his chest, until he hooked an arm around the base of the railing. He curled up around the box until the shaking stopped.

He caused the crack in time and space. And now prisoner zero has escaped. Escaped into Amelia's home.

He had to get her out of there. The Doctor stood, coughing on the smoke that the control panel was supplying. He found a red handkerchief in his pocket and breathed through it. He threw open the door and smoke flowed out. "Amelia?" He had landed in the garden. It was daytime, but not the same day, no, the right day. "Amelia! I worked out what it was. I know what I was missing. You've got to get out of there," he said, running up to the front door. He took out his screwdriver and his fingers slipped on the buttons in his haste, but he eventually got it working long enough to unlock the door. He rushed in and up the stairs. "Amelia? Amelia, are you there?" He tried the handle to her bedroom, then put his screwdriver to it. It flashed. "No….Prisoner Zero is here. Amelia, Prisoner Zero is here!" he shouted. A floorboard creaked behind him and he turned, but too late. Something hit him square in the forehead and he dropped into darkness.

**A/N: One more chapter/epilogue to go. By the way, the last paragraph or so actually happened in the show, so I don't own that dialogue. See you at the end.**


	7. Epilogue

It was summer. Hermione rested her chin on the palm of her hand and swiped a fork through her salad. She sat alone at the dining room table. Both her parents were at work. The only sounds were the low murmur of passing cars and the steady tocking of the old clock across the room. Light streamed through the milky curtains, making a bright rectangle on the wood.

She barely noticed when the sound began, faintly at first, but it came to her all at once, the realization that he was back. Hermione set the fork on the edge of the plate and stood. She opened the door. Across the street, amid the beige and brown and grey was vivid, beautiful blue.

Hermione crossed the road. Her heart throbbed and she felt dizzy, and she knew this would be the last time. The last time to see her Doctor.

She opened the door to the TARDIS. Like the time she'd apparated into it by accident, it took her by surprise. It was truly bigger on the inside, but it seemed different from last time. Either way, what mattered the most to her was the owner. She closed the door behind her.

He came out from behind the main console. He looked the same, but older. He was different, and Hermione wondered just how much time had passed for him.

"Hermione." He walked to her, stopping barely a foot away.

"Why?" she managed, her throat constricting her words. Something warm trickled from her eye and down her cheek. "Why did you leave like that? And then come back? I don't understand you, Doctor."

He hung his head. "I….understand about Amelia now."

Hermione shook her head. "What….?"

The Doctor said, "It was my fault. When we saw her back then with Skern, back in time, she wasn't meant to be there. I just didn't know it yet."

"You mean, you sent her back in time–?"

"Not intentionally, but," he took a breath, "it was because of me, and now….It doesn't matter. Nothing can be done."

"The Ponds," Hermione said. "She and her husband were the ones I met?"

The Doctor nodded. "Amelia…."

Before they knew it, they were holding each other in grief and loss, in happiness and sorrow, clinging to memories. Hermione's tears flowed freely from her eyes, dripping from the tip of her nose. She breathed in the scent of the Doctor's tweed jacket–old and familiar, like the yellowing pages of a book–and made the seconds last, because each one was a moment closer to when she wouldn't smell that scent anymore or feel this safe embrace or talk about time and space in a blue police box that was, in fact, bigger on the inside.

When they separated, Hermione wiped her eyes with her sleeve. The Doctor said, "I'm sorry I left like that. I wanted it to be quick and painless, like, I don't know, ripping off a bandage." He let out a soft laugh.

Hermione tried for a weak, tear-soaked smile. "It was quick, but not painless. After all these years, you still don't know how to say goodbye properly."

"I guess I don't." The Doctor shoved his hands in his pockets.

Hermione stood, silent. Then she said, "I'll teach you."

The Doctor looked up.

Hermione held out a hand. After a moment, the Doctor took it. Hermione said, "It was lovely to meet you, Doctor."

The Doctor smiled. "And you, Miss Granger."

She let go of the Doctor's hand. "See? That wasn't so bad."

"No," he said. "I suppose you're right."

Hermione took a step back. "Goodbye, Doctor." She turned and walked out of the TARDIS, closing the door behind her.

The Doctor watched the door, hoping it would open and Hermione would be back, begging to come with him, for him to stay, for anything. But she didn't. And the Doctor understood. Besides, he couldn't stay; he had a duty to protect Earth, or at least to try.

Hermione watched from her house, waiting for the Doctor to come out of the police box, waiting for him to come after her. But he didn't. And Hermione understood. And it didn't matter anyway; she had to help protect her friends from Voldemort and the Death Eaters, or die trying.

But still, when the whirring began, and the TARDIS started to fade, her heart ached. She would do anything to come, but she couldn't. Soon enough, the street was bare; only grey and brown and beige. No blue, except in Hermione's tears and the patches of sky in between the clouds.

The Doctor sat by the control panel. He was alone now, and that was okay, but it felt like someone had taken one of his hearts away. But the safest thing for Hermione was to be on Earth. "Brave, brave girl," he said, smiling. "I'll never forget you."

**I may or may not be crying at the moment. So here's a happy ending for Goodness's sake. I couldn't resist making one.**

Hermione held out a hand. After a moment, the Doctor took it. Hermione said, "It was lovely to meet you, Doctor."

The Doctor smiled. "And you, Miss Granger."

She let go of the Doctor's hand. "See? That wasn't so bad."

"No," he said. "I suppose you're right."

Hermione took a step back. "Goodbye, Doctor." She turned and walked out of the TARDIS, closing the door behind her.

The Doctor watched the door, hoping it would open and Hermione would be back, begging to come with him, for him to stay, for anything. But she didn't. And the Doctor understood. Besides, he couldn't stay; he had a duty to protect Earth, or at least to try.

Wait. He couldn't do this. He couldn't let her go, despite everything logical that told him to leave her be and to let her be safe. He ran to the door and threw it open, looking up and down the street. "Hermione?" She was gone. He'd missed his chance, and now….

"Doctor?" Hermione opened the front door and walked quickly across the road. Her stomach was jittery, as if there were butterflies hatching in it. What was going on?

The Doctor grinned when he saw her and swept her up in a bear hug. Then he stepped back, hands resting on her shoulders. "Do you want to see the universe, Hermione?"

She didn't speak. She couldn't. But, slowly, a smile overtook her lips.

And she nodded.

**Thank you all so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Please tell me what you think in the comments. It'd mean a lot!**

**Until next time.**


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